Show Recap: A$AP Rocky Brings Purple Swag to The Prudential Center

A$AP Rocky brought Harlem to Newark, New Jersey on April 28 when he opened for Rihanna’s Diamonds World Tour at the Prudential Center. Thousand of fans of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance and immensely eager to see the acts. Walking in to the center, one could instantly tell this would be a monumental night.

The all-white stage was covered with purple lights, with an all white throne resembling a seat from HBO’s popular series Game of Thrones at the center. The clock struck 8:00 PM and the entrance music comes on—classical music reminiscent of a gladiator arena battle. Suddenly, Harlem native A$AP Rocky came out to perform. The crowd erupted in applause as he started off the show with “Long.Live.A$AP,” one of my personal favorite tracks off his most recent album of the same.  Dressed in all white from head to bottom with his patent gold grill in tow, his energy was contagious, gradually infecting thousand of fans who began rising to their feet. The RCA Records rapper performed “Wassup,” “Pussy Money Weed” and “Wild for the Night” to everyone's delight. The screens in the background played psychedelic film loops that were very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. In between songs, A$AP thanked his fans for coming out to see him and Rihanna. He also went on to introduce himself to people who hadn’t yet heard of him by playing his breakout single “Purple Swag." He then went on to perform his verse from “Hands on the Wheel,” a collaborative record off Schoolboy Q’s mixtape Habits and Contradictions. As any gentlemen would, he dedicated his song "Fashion Killa" to all the beautiful women in the audience, many of which came in masses dressed in skin-tight clothing, short skirts and flamboyant attire.

Pretty Flacko had the crowd in the palm of his hands and did exactly what a opening act should do: energize the crowd and get them up on their feet. As he sat on his throne, looking at the thousand of fans screaming his name, he stepped on top of one of the props on stage and performed “Peso,” bringing the crowd to a emotional high. Before he ended performance, the humble emcee thanked the crowd, told everyone to get home safe and prepped them for the Rihanna's performance. It comes to no surprise “F*cking Problem” - his smash-hit collaboration with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz - was the song to closed out the show. As soon as the beat drop the crowd erupted, screaming the hook word for word. The A$AP Mob general killed his verse, maintaining the same high energy from the beginning to end. It was truly a great act to see as men, women and teenagers of all backgrounds sang the song with him as loud as they could. I'm sure A$AP just made a lot of new fans. - Written by Emmanuel C.M. (@ECM_LP)